Mrs. Doubtfire to slap on a sequel wig and pretend it’s a new movie

In a jarring record scratch echoing across two decades, The Hollywood Reporter has announced that a sequel is in the works to Mrs. Doubtfire, the 1993 comedy in which Robin Williams plays a divorced dad who—[record scratch]—dresses up as a Scottish nanny, all in a bid to repair the record scratch that is his broken family. Both Williams and director Chris Columbus are said to be attached and “hopeful,” not unlike the hope of a man who believes that slapping on a wig and fake breasts makes him a new person. Their enthusiasm for a script by Elf’s David Berenbaum was enough to overcome years of abandoned attempts at a follow-up, including one written by Bonnie Hunt in 2001, at a time when a sequel to Mrs. Doubtfire would have seemed more of an amusing curiosity than part of the inevitable process of Hollywood’s relentless franchising of everything that has ever grossed upwards of $100 million.

But just last year, Columbus said that timing wasn’t a concern, given that even 20 years later, the elderly Mrs. Doubtfire would look pretty much the same (and may even require fewer prosthetics). And other than the fact that, after years of Big Momma’s Houses, Nutty Professors, and Madeas, the men-in-fat-suits and-dresses movie market has become notably more saturated, Columbus believes the only possible hindrance to Mrs. Doubtfire 2 is finding “a good emotionally strong story”—one with a reasonable explanation for why Williams’ already publicly exposed character would want to don drag again, outside of the fact that he does it professionally for his TV show, in what was once considered a satisfactory resolution for all involved. Presumably, Berenbaum has already conceived of that story—an emotionally strong record scratch that will lead to even more hilarious, heartwarming record scratches to come.